The Architecture Gathering

On 6th April 2023, SPG Resourcing hosted the first instalment of The Architecture Gathering, bringing Architecture leaders together in a private dining environment to discuss the big challenges facing the discipline.  

The event was a huge success, and attendees had the opportunity to debate a range of topics centred around the increasing shift to Product and Agile ways of working, and how Architecture can not only survive but thrive in these environments.

The conversation kicked off with the fundamental question of ‘What is Product?’, which expanded into ‘What are the key soft skills Architects need to thrive in a Product environment?’, and finally touched on some of the collaboration tools that will be important going forward.

Once a general agreement was reached among attendees regarding the general landscape, the discussion moved on to focus more specifically on Architecture ways of working, and the question of whether these will have to adapt from more traditional methodologies and approaches in order for Architecture to stay relevant and valuable.

Questions covered ‘Is Continuous Architecture’ achievable?’ (i.e. aligning Architecture with the latest DevOps-type practices of CI/CD), ‘Should Architecture cease to provide Blueprints, and instead provide Guidelines?’, and ‘Does the Governance process need to adapt to a Product environment?’.

There was valuable input from all, including the fact that we should never get carried away with the latest trends and technologies just for the sake of it, and should always remember to ask fundamental questions like ‘Do we need to run this Project Agile, or would it be perfectly okay to run it Waterfall?’, and ‘Do we need the scalability and elasticity that Cloud offers, or is our usage predictable and stable enough for an on-prem server to be more than adequate?’.

The evening ended with the question, ‘How do you know you've become successful at the transition to operating in a Product environment?’, to which came one of our favourite answers of the night, "When people are asking for Architects to be on their team from day one." 

Overall, the event was a great success, and attendees left with a better understanding of how Architecture can thrive in Product and Agile environments.

 “I enjoyed meeting an interesting group of people with different perspectives and experiences. The discussion was facilitated very well.”

“I enjoyed meeting peers from around the area and gathering views and thoughts on topics that are impacting us all within Architecture.”

A huge thank you to all who attended and made The Architecture Gathering what it was.

We are excited to organise the next instalment of The Architecture Gathering and we hope to see you there!